


What Can I Do??

by GirlsLikeKings



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: AND CUTE SHIT, Cute Yoo Kihyun, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, I Blame Tumblr, Kinda, Love at First Sight, Mentioned Monsta X Ensemble, Original Character(s), Public Sex, Top Yoo Kihyun, but it turned into fluff??, but then theres sex in public, cuz thats where i got the idea, i cant tag for shit, kihyun lives in the laundry room, laundry room love, okay this was originally gonna be smut, thats all I got, theres gonna be smut just later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-02 16:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17267654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlsLikeKings/pseuds/GirlsLikeKings
Summary: Cadence is doing laundry and meets the resident guy on her floor who lives in the laundry room





	1. "does he live here??"

Cadence crossed her legs at the ankles and checked her watched as the smaller hand continued to tick by, counting the minutes as she waited for her clothes to finish. With her family visiting her new apartment in a few days, she wanted to have the place spotless for them. She also didn’t want her family to know she lived like an absolute savage.

So here she was, a little after 2am, washing sheets, towels, and pants in the high rise building she moved into a little over a month ago. It was an annoyance not having a washer and dryer in her unit, but at least she didn’t have to pay for her laundry. A perk for having such high rent in Los Angeles. The only sounds that filled her ears were the sounds of the swishing water in the washing machine and the low hum of the dryer. She enjoyed the peaceful calm of this little piece of the world she was apart of. Yeah doing laundry was the worst, but when she had time to just chill and be like this, it wasn’t so bad. 

She thought about the reason she finally decided to leave the nest and move to LA, she got her dream job at a famous fashion agency. So long had she applied and hoped for the opportunity to work at Monteen Fashion Studios. When it finally came in the form of a short acceptance email, she just KNEW she had to go. Hopping off the counter she sat on, she stood to stretch and released a yawn. Though sleepy, she needed to finish washing because the next day she would be swamped with learning the ropes at her job and wouldn’t have time to finish it then. 

She walked over to the washing machine and added a cap full of fabric softener as it began to rinse the last load of pants and bras. Just as she closed the top, the sound of footsteps filled her ears. Slowly she turned around and watched as the guy, who lived down the hall from her, walked in carrying two big bags of clothes. She had seen him, in passing, a few times always going to the laundry room. Cordially she smiled as he nodded in her direction before picking a washing machine on the other side of the room. “Wow does he live in here??”, she wondered as she watched him lift one of the bags onto the table next to him. He opened the top of the washer and began loading in shirt upon shirt. 

She tried to focus on her clothes spinning in the dryer instead of the neighbor who apparently has a special kind of fabric softener for his and his family’s clothes?? Wow it was huge. Cadence found herself enthralled in this man’s clothes life. She watched as she sorted colored shirts and socks into a pile and darks into a pile.  _ He’s got A LOT of darks, this is pile number 3.  _ She observed that someone in the family loved their muscle shirts, and another was a BIG fan of the color yellow. 

The washer that held her last loud made a loud buzz, jolting her out of her laundry induced daze. Sighing deeply, she pulled the load of wet clothes from the washer. Opting not to grab one of the carts near the door, she carried the clothes to the dryer. Once putting the machine on 50 minutes, she walked back over to the seating area and opened her book. She was so engrossed in the tale of the Prince and the Pauper, that she failed to notice her laundry room buddy standing a few feet away from her until she inhaled deeply, taking in a deep woodsy scent. 

The man with brown hair and a smooth undercut leaned against a table, holding something shyly in his hands. His eyes were low and his voice timid as he spoke, “I uh...think you dropped something.” 

She looked up, noticing what was in his hands. “Oh my God,” she squealed as her face ran hot. “Give those back!” She snatched the purple lacy bra out of his hand.

“Hey! Why are you yelling at me?? I just wanted to be a helpful gentleman!” 

“Gee thanks!” She could not help but be embarrassed as she threw the bra in her laundry basket. 

“You’re welcome.” He scoffed walking away to continue figuring out how to wash all of his laundry efficient. 

Feeling kind of bad for yelling at her laundry room buddy she called for him, “Hey wait.”

“What.” 

“I deserve that I guess. I’m Cadence. What’s your name??”

“Kihyun. Are you new here Cadence?? I’ve never seen you here and I am here every other weekend.” 

“Yeah. I just moved in to 514M.”

“Really?? My brother was telling me someone moved down the hall from us, but he never saw them.” 

Cadence cleared her throat, she didn’t know her move was one to be talked about. Especially by the hot guy(s) on the same floor as her. “Ha...that’s me. Which one are you all in??”

“526B.”

“Not to pry but like, how many of you is it?? I noticed you have a considerable amount of baggage with you.” 

Kihyun laughed, “There’s 7 of us. No one does laundry but me so you’ll mostly only see me in here.”

_ That’s good to know.  _ She thought to herself. 

“Cool. I would love to meet your family one day.” Her nose wrinkled in shame as she realized that sounded way more personal than she had wanted it to sound. How to be friendly without sounding like a complete freak challenge failed. 

Kihyun grinned, “Just come knock on the door. Hyungwon is always home earlier than the rest of us. He will let you in-” He stopped mid sentence to change his thought, “Or…You could just wait until our next date in the laundry room.” Kihyun made the same face Cadence did. They clearly were not good at this flirting thing. 

She nodded, “Well, my clothes are done, so I’m going to be headed upstairs now...I’ll see you later Kihyun.” Cadence moved quickly to dryer and piled all her clothes in messily, careful not to drop anymore under clothes. 

As she passed by Kihyun putting the next load in she stopped briefly and told him how nice it was talking to him and he commented that they should do it again. But she panicked again and just said sure and left him there alone to do his laundry. 


	2. "so are you like a vegetarian or something??”

Cadence and Kihyun had begun meeting at the laundry room every weekend after their first initial meeting. Sometimes, Cadence didn’t even have laundry, she just bought a book for her to read while she watched Kihyun do his 70 million loads. 

This particular weekend Cadence finally asked the question she had been wondering since the beginning, “Why are YOU the one to always do the laundry??”

Kihyun furrowed his brows as he began to fold shirts, “You know, I don’t know. I guess that’s just how it ended up.” 

“Does anyone else pull their weight around the house??”

“Yeah. We’ve got a chore wheel, I just always somehow end up getting laundry. Which I never really minded but now I actually enjoy it.” He remarked grinning at Cadence. 

Cadence tried to hide her smile behind the book she was reading. “Anyways...” She began. 

“Yeah??”

“Do you have a favorite kind of detergent??” 

“What an odd question.” 

“I’m curious. I have one, I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

“Okay, I like the Arm and Hammer Summer Breeze. It’s cheap AND the smell lasts a long time.” Kihyun said with a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. 

Cadence sighed, “Lovely. My favorite is Seventh Generation, it’s good for my sensitive skin and it smells like Lavender.” 

“You know I noticed you always smelled like Lavender but I just thought it was your shampoo or conditioner.” 

Cadence made an ‘oh really’ face, “You’ve smelled me??”

“Not in like a creepy way! I meant like in passing...you smell good.” His ears began to turn red as he cleared his throat and walked over to his last load in the washer. 

Laughing out loud Cadence walked over to him and touched his red ears. She commented on how red they were and told him that she was just joking. He shooed her off as he continued to put his clothes into the dryer. They played around with one another like they had known each other for years. This was a comfortable space for them, they could get lost for hours just being around one another. 

“So do you have any other brothers and sisters??” Kihyun asked as he took a seat on top of the counter next to her. 

“Nope, just the one you saw when my family came to visit.” 

He nodded, “I wish I could have met them. They seemed like they were really good people.” 

“They are. The best people. So supportive.” 

“I’m glad. Moving to a new place is hard enough alone.” 

“So, are all of those guys you live with your brothers or…”

“3 of them are my brothers and 3 of them are just family friends. I moved here with my brothers, Minhyuk, Hyungwon, and Shownu. Then our friends Wonho, Changkyun, and Jooheon came afterwards.”

“You must all be really close. I’ve only ever seen the taller one and he always seems sleepy.”

Kihyun chuckled, “Yeah we are and that’s Hyungwon. He really loves to eat snacks and sleep. It’s amazing he’s kept his job this long honestly.” 

“I just know he and I would get on well then. I also love the snacks and getting the sleep.” 

“‘Getting the sleep’, you are so cute I swear.” 

The dryer buzzed causing Cadence to jump and Kihyun to almost fall off the counter. “No matter how many times I do this, that stupid buzzer always scares the shit outta me.” Kihyun muttered. 

Cadence began gathering her things sadly as she knew this would be the end of their time together. Neither of them ever had enough courage to ask the other out on a proper date, so they were resigned to only meeting in the laundry room late at nights after they both were finished adulting. 

“Hey uh...I can’t carry both of these back to my place. You want to help me?? I’ll pay you in chicken nuggets.” Kihyun offered hoping his payment was an acceptable form of currency. 

Cadence brightened up, “Yeah of course! You don’t even have to pay me. I’ll do it out of the kindness of my small heart.” 

“Bless you.” He teased as he picked up one basket and began walking towards his apartment. Cadence followed closely behind trying not to show too much enthusiasm in her walk. 

They stopped at Kihyun’s door and before he pushed in the code he warned her, “Now I honestly don’t know what you will see when I open this door so be prepared and also I am sorry.” 

Cadence still excited but also now a little nervous nodded her head and gave him a reassuring smile. As he typed in the code and opened the door, her nose was attacked by the smell of ramen and...oranges?? What a very odd combination for an apartment to smell like. Kihyun walked in ahead of her and placed his basket on the floor next to the couch. 

“Hey you made it just in time!” A man with olive skin yelled from the couch. He was eating oranges and leaving the peels in a nice little pile next to his cherry soda. The man jumped up and gave Kihyun a really tight hug, “You almost missed the one time Hyungwon actually made something delicious!”

“HEY!” Hyungwon yelled from the kitchen. “I will have you know that I am a fantastic cook when I really put my mind to it.” He turned from yelling at the man to see Cadence standing awkwardly by the door. “And who is this lovely lady??” 

She set down the laundry and outstretched her hand, “Hi, I’m Cadence. A friend of Kihyun’s. I was just helping him bring his laundry back.” 

“Ah Cadence. I have heard much about you. You stay down the hall right?? I think I have seen you.” 

“I’m Minhyuk,” The man who loved oranges interrupted as he pulled Cadence into a hug excitedly, “It’s so nice to meet you! Where are you from??” 

Cadence awkwardly patted Minhyuk’s back as she tried to disconnect without seeming rude. “I’m from Seattle but I was born in Houston.” 

“Nice. I have always wanted to visit Texas. I hear they’ve got great steak.” Hyungwon muttered as he sat down on the couch and began flipping through the channels.

“I wouldn’t know...I don’t eat steak.” 

Minhyuk furrowed his brows, “That’s unfortunate, so are you like a vegetarian or something??” 

_ “This kid talks A LOT.”  _ Cadence thought to herself as she looked towards Kihyun to help her out of this situation. Unfortunately, he was in the kitchen grabbing a bowl to taste the concoction stewing in the pot. 

She sighed. “No, I just don’t like red meat. It tastes funny.” 

“Ah okay. Well you’ve already met Hyungwon, Wonho is still at work and Changkyun is playing games so he won’t be out anymore tonight. You can meet Jooheon and Shownu though!” 

Minhyuk grabbed Cadence by the arm and dragged her to the far end of the apartment. On their brief walk, she learned that Shownu was the oldest brother and the most quiet, that Kihyun was always very shy but loved math and that Minhyuk and Jooheon (who share a room) started making a lego T-Rex last night. 

“Honey bee! I hope you’re decent! We’ve got company! Hamtaro brought a girl home!” 

“HEY! I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT IN PUBLIC LEE MINHYUK DAMNYOUDONTLISTEN!” Kihyun yelled from the kitchen angrily. 

Minhyuk laughed, “Bold of him to assume I would listen to the youngest.” 

He opened the door and found Jooheon on the floor separating lego pieces by color and size. He was really concentrating hard and had a rainbow of pieces in front of him, each pile consisting of different sizes and shapes. 

“I managed to separate everything according to their size, shape, and color. If we start now-” He looked up before finishing his statement, his sweet, fluffy cheeks puffing out from a pout. 

“Look! Kihyun bought a friend home! Her name is Cadence and she is absolutely lovely!” 

“Thanks…” Cadence responded shyly. 

Jooheon moved carefully from his spot and dusted himself off before extending his hand to greet her.

“Nice to meet you. I am Jooheon.” 

“It’s nice to meet you as well Jooheon. How long did it take you to separate of all these pieces??” 

“Like 3 hours. I thought it would take longer because I started watching Supernatural, but it seemed to make things go by quicker.” 

“It’s great! If we start in the morning tomorrow before class, we will at least have the feet done.” Minhyuk swooned as he eyed the piles and then the Lego box. 

Kihyun came into the room with a bowl of cereal in his hands and gave the other boys a look. “I only looked away for a second! I am so sorry Cadence!” Cadence shook her head, “No it’s okay! I love building things, I would love to see it once it’s done.” Minhyuk and Jooheon high fived each other and commented how Kihyun had finally found a good one. “On that note, shouldn't you be going??” Cadence noticed the time and excused herself from the room, “Have fun boys!” 

“See you later! Come back again!”

They walked to the front of the apartment in silence and as she waited for Kihyun to put his bowl down, Cadence waved to Hyungwon who seemed to be more interested in the TV than what was going on around him. He could have possibly even been sleeping as unmoving as he was. 

Kihyun walked her to the door and opened it, “Well this was fun…”

“Yeah totally. We should do it again. But like...not just in the laundry room.” Cadence’s face began to run hot. 

Kihyun’s ears turned a bright beet red, “Oh! Okay yeah I agree. We should exchange numbers then yeah??” 

“Absolutely.” 

After exchanging numbers, Kihyun was about to say something else but the one called Shownu came into the living room, wet and shirtless yelling about Hyungwon taking all his shampoo again. Hyungwon (who wasn’t sleeping) explained matter of factly, “Nu if you simply bought the economy size we wouldn’t have this problem.” Shownu shook his head angrily “I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BUY THE ECONOMY SIZE, IT’S MY SHAMPOO.” Kihyun’s neck began to turn red as well from sheer embarrassment, “I should go. I’ll call you later okay??”

Cadence smiled as he closed the door slowly. She walked to her apartment replaying all the events that had just happened. They were all a bunch of children and as far as she could see Kihyun was the glue that held them together. She had to meet the others to see if her theory was right. Until then she would wait for the day he called her.


End file.
